Thursday, May 27, 2010

Review/Morpheus Road: The Light

Thursday, May 27, 2010
"MacHale (the Pendragon series) launches the Morpheus Road trilogy with this creepy, tension-filled adventure, in which 16-year-old Marsh Seaver is terrorized by forces he doesn't understand. It's the first week of summer, and Marsh is all alone, his widower father out of town on business, and his best friend Cooper a few hours away at Thistledown Lake with his family. Things get seriously weird when Gravedigger, a skeletal comic book character of Marsh's design, starts stalking him. Convinced that only Cooper can help him, Marsh enlists the aid of Cooper's beautiful yet frosty sister, Sydney, to get to the lake. Once they arrive, they learn that Cooper is missing and true terror is just beginning. Spooky and fraught with peril, this ghost story evokes campfire horrors and classic slasher films with a relentless onslaught of macabre imagery and mortal danger. What is Gravedigger, what does he want, and how does it all tie into Cooper's fate? Unfortunately, as the first act in a larger piece, few answers are revealed, and numerous questions are left unresolved in anticipation of the next installment. (Publisher summary from Powell's Books)

I recently finished listening to D.J. MacHale’s, Morpheus Road The Light read by Nick Podehl, and believe me this will be one of my top ten reads for this year. Bar none, this is one creepy and tense reads, and I have a new love for MacHale’s craft as a storyteller.

Morpheus Road: The Light is the first in a trilogy.  The plot is extremely intricate and the suspense if heart-pounding. In fact, from the moment Marsh Seaver first physically encounters The Gravedigger, a skeletal comic book character Marsh draws, the reader is literally catapulted, right along with Marsh, into an insane world where illusions become threatening and deadly. Listening to the book, I felt like I was running a marathon because the terror never stopped long enough for me to catch my breath. At one point towards the end of the story, I even felt relief that the events were winding down, but boy was I fooled. Instead, MacHale was only lulling me into a false sense of security so that he could blow me away one last time.

Along with the truly macabre plot, MacHale’s characters jumped off the pages making this story much more real than I would have thought possible. From the first page Marshall Seavers, the narrator, begins to weave the events so matter-of-factly that I was immediately caught up in his narration. As one bizarre event after another begins to unfold, Marsh’s reactions were typical of any rational human being: he thinks he is going nuts. I really enjoyed his thought process, which  felt like asides directed at me. For example, in one scene he is investigating a noise in his house and he admits that he was “doing the same dumb thing that people do in the horror movies. They always go to investigate. It makes you want to scream out, “Don’t’ look in the basement. Get the hell out of there, fool!” 

Two other characters in the book really helped bring out Marsh’s personality because they were total opposites. Marsh describes his best friend, Cooper, as completely different than him. Cooper never worries or thinks things through, he is great in social situations, loves to play sports, and doesn’t care what other people think. He is a risk taker and quite the comedian. Sydney, Cooper’s older sister, is the queen of snarkiness and ends up as Marsh’s side-kick as they search for Cooper. Her icy demeanor with her parents and Marsh hides a vulnerability that is eventually revealed as she and Marsh share some extremely scary moments. All three characters provide moments of comic relief that was certainly needed to offset the extreme suspense that fills each chapter of the book.

Morpheus Road:The Light is an extreme read right up to the very end. The tension and the suspense grips you so tightly that is near impossible to put the book down. If you love scary stories then trust me this is one of the best. Just make sure you keep the lights on as you read.

21 comments:

Lori said...

Hey Jan! I'm testing to make sure the comments look okay. Great review btw! I've had this one on my shelf for a while. Maybe I should read it soon!

Vicki said...

This sounds a fantastic read, I love a tense scary story now and then. Great review!

Vicki said...

oh, I like the new look btw!

Unknown said...

I seriously need to get this book, it sounds really good and I loved your review! =)

Hannah said...

I really need to read this book. Every review that I've read for it makes me want it more and more.

I don't know when you changed your blog look (I've been all but offline for most of this month) but I absolutely ADORE it! I love the steampunk feel.

Aleksandra said...

Great review! This one is already on my must-reads list!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jan von Harz said...

Dear ANonymous, Stop and desist with the annoying spam. I will never approve such hogwash!

Anonymous said...

Few travellers on a Mashobra tour can resist the temptation of seeking blessings at the Mahasu Devta Temple.
Thus professional firms for web development in London are better got in touch with.
One situation had me pose as bait to draw the enemies out so my ally could dispatch them.
With an average annual fee of 10,000 pounds, representing
between 25% - 36% of professional incomes this has risen assiduously by 41% in the last five years. Many consumers worry about their security when making purchases over the internet. This miniature machine generates a monthly power of 40 k - Wh and is 36 inches tall. This was the time when broadband internet was still in its infancy and uploading the revised pages could be nothing short of tedious with a slow phone line connectivity. Nevertheless, we're now moving on and talking about the top Xbox 360 games for 2012. Dependency enslaves you, giving others the ultimate power over how you perceive and feel about yourself. There is a rarely discussed addiction that can be as enslaving as drugs and as devastating to self-respect, self-confidence and healthy functioning as alcoholism.

Here is my web-site; crysis ati

Anonymous said...

I know this site provides quality depending articles or reviews and other material, is there any
other web page which provides such things in quality?

Also visit my web site :: internet radio

Anonymous said...

Dadurch kann die Masse nicht aufgenommen werden, während
sie die Verdauung passiert, wodurch eine Gewichtsreduktion erreicht wird.
Sie müssen auch sicher sein, dass Sie Ihre Einsätze auf
der ganzen innerhalb der Roulette Tisch, bevor der Lieferant keine zusätzlichen Einsätze Signale sind.
Dieses Produkt gelangt in den Magensaft und wird zu elektropositiver Gelatine, die die Fettmasse einschließt.


My web page; http://nocturna.iobloggo.com/38/figure-diaboliche-nel-medioevo/?uid=3488
my webpage - Learn additional

Anonymous said...

What Ι didn't know was how I would get all of what I wanted in just six hours. Perhaps the best thing to do is keep an eye on the promotional deals and be ready to pounce quickly when a suitable one comes up. Even if you have a good two way radio, it isn't bad to have some
kind of rеceive only raԁio to get informatіon on.


Here iѕ my web ρage - please click the next site

Anonymous said...

It can, however, be pre-ordered, as its release date is in the near future.
If you look around your community, our country, and
the world, there is little evidence of loving actions.
Wherever you click you are instantly overwhelmed with special offers:
book this, buy that, fly with us, hop on this, reserve that.
I don't want an strange voice to order me around. An analysis this change will give us insight into the supposed benefits they entail. But there is a magic formula. They will check into a purpose built sports complex 8 miles from the venue of their first match in Rustenburg. FIFA has stated that a player named as a goalkeeper can only play in goal and that this rule will be enforced. I was excited to see what they would come up with, since I already have two children. For people from non technical background these things look like rocket science.

my blog :: http://classicmusicinfo.com/blogs/entry/Effortless-Advice-Of-crysis-Where-To-Go

Anonymous said...

Without the internet, this is not possible to play these novoline games online and even they can't live online that they perform now with public for additional characteristics and completely attractive in a delusion earth to participate in a game. You will eventually run into the Download Location menu with two options: Wii System Menu and SD Card. A Twitter app for Zune has been created and is now available for download through Microsoft's
Marketplace.

Stop by my blog post; onlineradio

Anonymous said...

Usually, a brand new website takes about six months to one year to appear in the SERPs of
Google, assuming the service provider is worth their salt.

com’s report. It would be optimum thought to select the local SEO service
after checking the rank of their website. This will not only
help you find the best service provider but will help you build an idea about the
recent SEO market. If you simply copy the original manufacturer's description, you don't add value to your
product and you certainly don't add your personal touch that can make you stand out from your competitors. Meta Name and Meta Description Tags are two of the important ones. They make their strategy according to the audience their client is targeting. This is because there is a stiff competition in this particular field and the market is flooded with lots of firms that provide proficient SEO experts India services at the economical costs. It focuses on networking and impeccable website maintenance. Over the years, web promotion has made a mark in the industry and has helped numerous entrepreneurs to build large business return through web. Search engine optimization is necessary for online businesses because it lets your website get found. The concepts make use of the current social networking sites, which are very popular among the online audience. Advertise by Selling Branded Products. You can find several internet marketing companies across the world. Once you find the right and affordable SEO Company, it is essential to talk about your business objectives, target customers and future goals with the professionals to help them develop their strategies accordingly. Originally posted at: digitalmoz. With most visitors noting the first 3-5 web links of the first page, further sustained SEO efforts bring the company web link to that web positioning high up as much as possible. Keep in mind that Google doesn’t really like page rank manipulation, even if it’s internally on your site or externally by backlink spamming. They are looking up the the keywords you did research on to find what they are looking for. Image Optimization is also a part of SEO services in Pune.

Review my blog: http://openucf.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/Nicolas Sc

Anonymous said...

This particular CD will be the bare bones of songs
my fans might never get the chance to hear otherwise.
Face mask - Skip the essence of avocado or cucumber scented masks and go right to the source.
It is an organ of elimination which proceeds too many of the waste-products which have been produced as a result
of bodily processes in sweat through the pores.

My page: Webeyedea.Info

Anonymous said...

In most cases they are, but when it comes to updates, patches, etc
to the mmorpgs. t want to forget to buy your all star game tickets at Angels Stadium from an independent ticket broker that cares more
about customer satisfaction than the bottom line.
It fizzles as the lights go out, and she says it's been great talking to you.

My site :: http://www.spielespielen24.de

Anonymous said...

If you want to buy a used cell phone at that point, you can
go to free classified ads website. Make it worth your while when listing items
and pricing. You may also try to sell old i - Pad and its parts to a person who needs them as
spares and will make a good use of your broken electronic device.


my web blog - Pan'S Labyrinth

Anonymous said...

These are not empty words which are uttered by a disciple of Jesus
who anyone would anticipate to say such as this. Pandora is
free (ad-supported), but you can buy an upgrade for no ads
and other improvements. With the Worldmate Nokia 5800 Xpress -
Music application you can keep track of the current times in up to five different cities worldwide at a go.



Visit my site :: mouse click the following post

Anonymous said...

She is likely a WARRIOR PERSONALITY I talk about in the KWML Mastery Course on women, dating, love, and
friendship. Finding good outsourcing companies is the
key, as naturally you do not want to lower the quality of the service.
As ever we strive to help our customers make informed decisions and understand
where their r4 cards are coming from.

my web site: kostenlos spielen

Anonymous said...

Concern Fresh Wind offers a invest money in building for different tariff plans. Recently, many, overcame the recent financial crisis, more ponder how invest the money at interest . According to conclusions of many of the leading the best analysts, one of the most investing money in building. Everyone knows that the construction of less exposed to the risk of falling prices, in addition , property has always enjoyed , and will be in demand. Even the economic crisis did not recaptured removed the desire for people to buy their own property. Therefore, investment in construction will always remain relevant and profitable.

Fwit.Biz: [url=https://fwit.biz]investment in construction[/url]

 
Design by Use Your Imagination Designs All images from the Keeper Of Time kit by Studio Gypsy